Cha, D. (1996). Dia's Story Cloth. New York: Lee and Low Books, Inc.
Dia's Story Cloth; The Hmong People's Journey of Freedom by Dia Cha
This book brings a story cloth to life and depicts the journey the Hmong people have endured and overcame throughout history. A story cloth is a blanket with very detailed, handstitched pictures, that are created without any patterns. This book is told from the perspective of the author, Dia Cha. Every passage throughout this book has a corresponding picture on the story cloth. The book begins with the Hmong people fleeing ancient China, tearing the Hmong people apart. The passage has a corresponding area on the quilt, which depicts the Hmong people crossing rivers and jungles, some even on foot. After living in peace for many years in their new villages, warfare broke out, dividing the Hmong people, once again. Later on, when fleeing Laos, the story cloth shows the Hmong people attempting to cross the brutal Mekong river. After arriving inThailand, like most escaping Hmong people, Dia and her family lived in a refugee camp.The Hmong people began frantically moving from village to village to avoid the warfare. The corresponding area of the quilt depicts a chaotic scene involving people being shot at, handcuffed, hiding, crying, and even dying.
The story cloth tells a story words could never do justice. It is astounding how much more I truly understood the feelings of the Hmong people after looking at the story cloth's pictures. Although the Hmong people were homesick and had endured unimaginable circumstances, they were resilient. Dia arrived in America at the age of 15 years old and had never attended school. The decision for her to attend high school was controversial in the eyes of some, however, within 13 years she had earned her master's degree. Dia returned to Thailand to work with other Hmong and Lao women who are currently living in refugee camps.
This is a true story depicting the journey the Hmong people have overcome and reading this book made me more aware of the backgrounds of future students I may have. It has definitely changed my perception about being more sensitive to culture and the understanding of how truly important it is to treat every culture with respect and equality. An immeasurable amount of people, coming from nations across the world, have all come to America in escape of war and in hopes of freedom. This book made me much more aware of the Hmong culture and journey, and it was an eye opening experience.
This story enhanced my cultural awareness of students I will serve because it made me realize the different struggles people are faced with. People were living their lives, when all of a sudden they were forced to flee their homes. It made me more aware of how so many people have ended up in America. It made me realize how many people had their culture ripped away and how important it is to keep the culture alive.
This book gave me a lot of insight into the lives of Hmong people, as well as any other person who is struggling to survive. The Hmong people were in very difficult times and decided the best option would be risking their lives on their journey to freedom. The word Hmong means “free people” and that is something I definitely will never forget.
This text was extremely relevant to me because as a future educator it is important to be as aware of as many different cultures as possible and to make the effort to connect the different ethnicities within the classroom to build a sense of community. I will definitely use this book in the future and highly recommend it to any parent or teacher because it is an inspirational and uplifting story of resiliencethat any person would enjoy reading.
Cha, D. (1996). Dia's Story Cloth. New York: Lee and Low Books, Inc.
Dia's Story Cloth; The Hmong People's Journey of Freedom by Dia Cha
This book brings a story cloth to life and depicts the journey the Hmong people have endured and overcame throughout history. A story cloth is a blanket with very detailed, handstitched pictures, that are created without any patterns. This book is told from the perspective of the author, Dia Cha. Every passage throughout this book has a corresponding picture on the story cloth. The book begins with the Hmong people fleeing ancient China, tearing the Hmong people apart. The passage has a corresponding area on the quilt, which depicts the Hmong people crossing rivers and jungles, some even on foot. After living in peace for many years in their new villages, warfare broke out, dividing the Hmong people, once again. Later on, when fleeing Laos, the story cloth shows the Hmong people attempting to cross the brutal Mekong river. After arriving inThailand, like most escaping Hmong people, Dia and her family lived in a refugee camp.The Hmong people began frantically moving from village to village to avoid the warfare. The corresponding area of the quilt depicts a chaotic scene involving people being shot at, handcuffed, hiding, crying, and even dying.
The story cloth tells a story words could never do justice. It is astounding how much more I truly understood the feelings of the Hmong people after looking at the story cloth's pictures. Although the Hmong people were homesick and had endured unimaginable circumstances, they were resilient. Dia arrived in America at the age of 15 years old and had never attended school. The decision for her to attend high school was controversial in the eyes of some, however, within 13 years she had earned her master's degree. Dia returned to Thailand to work with other Hmong and Lao women who are currently living in refugee camps.
This is a true story depicting the journey the Hmong people have overcome and reading this book made me more aware of the backgrounds of future students I may have. It has definitely changed my perception about being more sensitive to culture and the understanding of how truly important it is to treat every culture with respect and equality. An immeasurable amount of people, coming from nations across the world, have all come to America in escape of war and in hopes of freedom. This book made me much more aware of the Hmong culture and journey, and it was an eye opening experience.
This story enhanced my cultural awareness of students I will serve because it made me realize the different struggles people are faced with. People were living their lives, when all of a sudden they were forced to flee their homes. It made me more aware of how so many people have ended up in America. It made me realize how many people had their culture ripped away and how important it is to keep the culture alive.
This book gave me a lot of insight into the lives of Hmong people, as well as any other person who is struggling to survive. The Hmong people were in very difficult times and decided the best option would be risking their lives on their journey to freedom. The word Hmong means “free people” and that is something I definitely will never forget.
This text was extremely relevant to me because as a future educator it is important to be as aware of as many different cultures as possible and to make the effort to connect the different ethnicities within the classroom to build a sense of community. I will definitely use this book in the future and highly recommend it to any parent or teacher because it is an inspirational and uplifting story of resiliencethat any person would enjoy reading.
July 25th, 2011